I am a long time twitch suffer and have recently been have issues "clearing my throat" oftern. No problem with slurred speach or trouble swallowing liquids or food. Do I need to be concerned with bulbar als or am I just being crazy now?

seriously though its common...not a sign of bulbar issues at all. do you have allergies? post nasal drip? acid reflux? lots of common maladies out there, try not to stoke your own anxiety fires...you have been twitching for a long time with no weakness or true blubar issue so you are securely in the BFS camp.

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." ~World Health Organization, 1948

I used to have seasonal allergies (pollen, ragweed, etc). At first I thought it was too good to be true when I read about an acupressure technique to get rid of allergies. Here's the website for one of the more popular allergy elimination techniques: http://naet.com/

I'm glad I checked my skepticism because it worked like a charm.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

JStanz wrote:nothing, what would you suggest? I am thinking zanax or speaking with a pscyologist.

Learn to meditate. No better way to find your own inner peace than through meditation in my opinion. There are lots of groups on meetup.com that get together and do group meditations if you want to learn from others, but it isn't necessary.

If your mind is your own worst enemy, why not make friends with it and turn it into your greatest ally? Mental discipline is achievable and there is help available. Learn what works for you, practice, and change your life for the better.

JStanz wrote:nothing, what would you suggest? I am thinking zanax or speaking with a pscyologist.

speaking to a psychologist can be very helpful if you can find a good one who has experience in health anxiety. I would also recommend the book Anxiety Cure by Archibald Hart or Change Your Brain Change Your Life by Daniel Amen, and Worry Cure by Robert Leahy...there are others but those three I got the most out of so far.

medications can help but they have their own litany of troubles if a doctor just gives you a prescription and sends you on your merry way....personally I think with some of the medications out there its better to have a pragmatic plan in place before you just go taking them.

I got a lot out of those books. Definitely an understanding of whats going on in my brain and how my lifestyle and train of thought causes most if not all of it.

meditation\prayer as SecretAgentMan suggested is one tool in the toolbox of many available. Those books elaborate on them all.

with all that said I still struggle greatly with anxiety so its a constant battle but I am 100% further along than I was 6 months ago.

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." ~World Health Organization, 1948

For the past week I have also found myself constantly having to clear mucus out of my throat, and sometimes I have a hard time clearing it out. I was worried about it but today it seems better. Most likely post nasal.

yep, mine went away. I have notices that a drool alot in my sleep. I noticed that "excessive drooling" is a sympton of bulbar als. Is this accuate? I do not drool during the day, only at night. No sinus or tooth issues.

JStanz wrote:yep, mine went away. I have notices that a drool alot in my sleep. I noticed that "excessive drooling" is a sympton of bulbar als. Is this accuate? I do not drool during the day, only at night. No sinus or tooth issues.

Thanks

no alot of people drool while they sleep...totally normal.

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." ~World Health Organization, 1948

Nope, no way, especially if ENT specialist says it is GERD.In fact I had such stong spasms due GERD about a 1.5 year ago that I had a food in my nose after each meal. I was practically just coughing but food was getting in the nose pretty well. Lucky I was I read that GERD can cause that ))please note that in 1.5 year I am still OK and even started to take vocal lessons which I would not be able to do should ihave any troubles inthat mechamism GERD is our common companion here.to get your food into nose as a result of bulbar paralysis you need your soft palate to be quite paralysed. That would give you prominently nazal voice and believe me ENT doctor would clearly note if you have any troubles with your soft palate.